Thierry Baril Named HR Director of the Year

Thierry Baril, Chief Human Resources Officer of EADS & Airbus, was named HR Director of the year at an awards ceremony in Paris on 3 June by the Hudson, Le Figaro Economie and Cadremploi Group .

The award was created in 1997 to raise the profile of the profession, and highlights the key importance and strategic contribution of HR Directors for company development.

Upon notification of his nomination for the award, EADS Chief Executive Tom Enders and Airbus Chief Executive Fabrice Brégier, both to whom Baril reports, were among the first to pass on their congratulations: “Serving two masters on a daily basis is a challenging task and achievement in itself which almost merits this award,” Enders and Brégier said in a joint statement.

“In my five years at Airbus, Thierry was instrumental in implementing several key initiatives, one of which was the TRUST initiative, which I launched. It is aimed at strengthening the corporate culture by introducing empowerment, decentralisation, subsidiarity and less bureaucracy into the organisation. These are key ingredients for any large international industrial organisation today. The last twelve months have been full-on for Thierry and the HR team with the new headquarters in Toulouse and a new HR organisation integrating the teams of EADS and Airbus. Given Thierry's track record at Airbus, we're sure he will also drive the necessary changes at the EADS Group level and at the other divisions. In fact, the Group-wide transformation of HR is well under way”, said Enders.

Added Brégier: “Thanks to Thierry’s hard work, he can claim a large share of the credit for the success Airbus is enjoying today. Since his arrival at Airbus in 2007, Thierry has turned the HR function into a real partner for the entire business, bringing a lot of agility, expertise and energy. He has introduced a completely new way to deal with change, with leadership and with employee engagement, as well as a very structured and efficient manner covering more classical HR responsibilities such as recruitment and training.”

Since June 2012, Thierry Baril has been integrating the HR functions of EADS and Airbus. At the ceremony, he said it was a great honour for him to be recognised by his peers:

“I am especially proud, as this is the result of hard work by our team at EADS going as far back as 2003 at Eurocopter and 2007 at Airbus. An HR Director is only as good as his team and the staff he manages, so this award is also for my team and for our company,” Baril said. “EADS is becoming increasingly international and a Group which is always moving forward. It is a magnet for candidates from around the world. In 2013, we plan to hire more than 5,000 staff and, above all, we aim to be a Group where the employees enjoy turning up for work. My motto is ‘HR generates value through people’ therefore a company with engaged staff and bold managers, who are given the means to realise their ambitions, is an effective company and an effective company is a competitive company. That’s something I try to work towards on a day to day basis.”

Thierry Baril was awarded the prize by a jury comprising HR Directors from high profile companies such as TF1, Legrand, SODIAAL, CELIO, GUERLAIN, ALSTOM, McDonald’s, SNCF, ADEO, LOUIS VUITTON, Direction Générale de l‘Administration et de la Fonction Publique (DGAFP), GEODIS, for his strategic vision and for his achievements throughout his career. He was nominated after an initial pre-selection process, followed by an interview.